overweight Pap

December 9th, 2009

I have a 10 year old, neutered, male Papillon. He suffers from a bad disk in his back and now he weighs 13.5 pounds. I really want to help him lose weight but don’t know what to do beyond reducing the amount of food that he receives. I feed him a homemade dog food that is low fat already – most of his carbohydrates come from the vegetables in his food. I do not add potatoes or corn to the vegetable mix and the meat source is boneless, skinless chicken. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to help Ziggy lose weight?

At what age does the socialization process end for puppies?

August 27th, 2009

I just bought a 5 month old pap, and he’s as timid as ever – shaking when people are around and choosing to hide in her crate all the time.  Her breeder kept her in a cage most of the time, alone without much interaction with other dogs/humans.

Is she too old for “re-socialization”? Will she never be as friendly and adventurous as most other papillons? If I bring her around and expose her to more people and surroundings, will she have the chance to be ‘normal’?

Marking

March 10th, 2009

I have a 4 year old Pap that I got from my nephew due to loosing his house. Boris is a GREAT little addition to our house but we are having problems with him marking in the house. If I leave for a while or take a shower even he is lifting his leg and marking on things. He is potty trained and goes outside to do his business but I don’t know what to do about the marking….Any ideas? Thanks

when should i begin outdoor potty training?

March 5th, 2009

my pap is 3 months old and it is march,  and i am in a very cold state. i want to know when a good time to train my pap outdoors would be. i have tried several times to take him outside but he actually climbs up my leg and whines for me to pick him up. he wants nothing to do with the outsoors. he is very hard to potty train and i am very aware that they can take 8-10 months to potty train, i believe. what i was wondering, was when a good time would be to start training him outsoors?

Fault Coloring – Why?

March 4th, 2009

I recently adopted a 4 year old Papillon through a friend who fosters rescue Papillons. Jazzie was rescued from a puppy mill at 6 months old.

She has what the AKC considers fault coloring – she has a brown nose and her lips and eyes are lined in brown instead of black. She is also “liver” colored – white with darker brown and a tan color. She does not have any black on her body at all. See picture below.

I’m not interested in showing her or anything, so I really like her unique features. I was mainly interested in giving her a second chance at life. 🙂

My Question: Why do some Paps (like Jazzie) have a brown nose instead of black? Is it a recessive gene? Is it a result of inbreeding (as far as I know – from her puppy mill “pedigree,” she hasn’t been inbred)? Or is it something like the albino features in humans?
Are there any health problems associated with brown-nosed Papillons?

Here is a picture of my sweet Jazzie.
Jazzie

Thanks! Stephanie

PS: She has all the standard Papillon features (besides the black) – tail, size, temperament, coat, etc.

female coat

February 20th, 2009

Do some females lose lots of hair in heat and during pregnancy and nursing?

Puppy’s tail does not curl over his back

January 30th, 2009

Hello!

I have a papillon puppy that is 13 weeks old this week and he is not carrying his tail up and over his back. When he is excited he holds it up above his bottom, but it sticks straight out from his body and when he is resting or being calm, it falls down away from his body. When he was younger it seemed to be growing in the right direction and, although it was short, curled up at all times. Now it is what seems to be the proper length, but does not have any curl to it at all and is straight as a stick. I was wondering if this could be normal for some puppies at his age and if it is a stage he is going through that will correct itself once he gets older. Is there anything I can do to help correct this? He is AKC registered and I have pictures of his parents, grand parents and great grandparents and they are all of very sound conformation with beautiful curly, plumed tails. I purchased him as a pet, so I don’t expect him to be perfect conformation wise, but the fluffy curly tails are one of my favorite features of this breed and I really hope his will come around. Has anyone else had a puppy that went through a phase like this when they were growing and if so, did it correct itself by the time they were an adult?

 

Thanks!

Stephanie

Is he phalene?

January 21st, 2009

I got cooper about a month ago and ive been on the internet now and then looking to see what his breed really is!!! Please give me feed back on if he is phalene!!!  His tail does curl up onto his back but the pic doesnt show it!!!

thanks

brittany

Tear Staining

December 29th, 2008

Good evening all.

I have a 8 week old pap and he’s a treasure. My question is he has started tear staining. I took him to the vet to make sure he didn’t have an eye infection or a tear duct infection. The vet said he didn’t have either and that some dogs just tear stain.

I was curious if anyone else had this problem and if so, how did you resolve it?

Thank you for y’all’s time.

Melanie

What to do

December 9th, 2008

I woke up this morning to find that my lil pap had soiled in her cage and she threw up a bit. I took her out to go potty and she did her business. My question is this what do I give her for an upset stomach? I know she ate a big leaf yesterday could that upset her? She also tries to eat her bowel movements so we have to keep an eye on her for that. What do we do about that too? So many questions and concerns. I gave her a bath to clean her up and clleaned her cage all out and her bedding. Now she is sleeping comfortably. I hope she will be ok. I tried to take her temp with an ear temp thermometer but she fought it. Please reply. I dearly love my lil girl.

                                                        Sincerely,

                                                           Ginny

“Night Terrors?”

December 6th, 2008

Lucy, my female Pap is 13 months old. She is a perfect pet in every way, but she has always had what I call night terrors, or very aggressive dreams. Many times (up to 6-7) times a night she will wake-up as vicious as a Pit Bull. Seriously she is growling and very aggressive not towards anyone, just growling and snapping. She sleeps in her kennel at the foot of my bed, so I reassure her everything is ok. I even tried putting her in the bed with me, but she still has these dreams. I wonder if you have ever heard of this and what can I do to help her NOT have these dreams?

Papillon needs to gain weight?

November 13th, 2008

My papillon neutered male is 16 months old. At his 6 month checkup, before he was neutered, he weighed 4 lbs, 4 oz. I thought he was too thin, as his ribs really stick out. My vet said he was ‘perfect’ and not to worry about it. Recently, he completed 8 weeks of agility classes and the instructor was very concerned that he is too thin. I just had him to the vet and he now weighs 4 lbs, 1oz, and he is 16 months old! When I said something to the vet he said not to worry about it. I know that paps tend to be thin, and he seems happy and healthy, but I do worry that he has lost weight from the time he was 6 months to the time he was 16 months. That just doesn’t seem right. Shoud I be concerned? And if so, how should I get him to gain weight? The vet said to leave out food all the time, because he is so small, but the agility instructor strongly disagreed and said to feed him twice a day. I have found a dry food with a very small pellet (Diamond Small Breed) that he seems to like a little better than his old food (Iams), but he still just doesn’t seem that interested in eating. He eats between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of food a day, depending on his appetite. So far I have avoided canned food because I have heard that dry food is better for their teeth. Any advice?

Nose pigment question

October 12th, 2008

Hi, Im hoping you can help me. Currently I am looking at getting a dog pup as he is a beautiful dog but his nose is still pink with black spots (he is 8wks old). I just wondering if you have ever come across a dog who has been like this and if the nose went fully black and how long it took. Im buying him as a show dog. Thanks.

AKC registration

August 24th, 2008

I have a one year old Pap and was wondering if it is still possible to AKC register him?

whoops! sorry

August 24th, 2008

I am sorry to the folks we did not reply too.  I thought this blog was getting no traffic.  It is supposed to notify me when there are have been blog post published…  Well, it wasn’t and I didn’t think to check out why.

Anyhow post away and we will try to get all reasonable questions answered.

Ruth Ann – Forevr Papillons